Skip to main content

Invasive ants compete with and modify the trophic ecology of hermit crabs on tropical islands

Oecologia volume 160, pages 187–194 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Invasive species can dramatically alter trophic interactions. Predation is the predominant trophic interaction generally considered to be responsible for ecological change after invasion. In contrast, how frequently competition from invasive species contributes to the decline of native species remains controversial. Here, we demonstrate how the trophic ecology of the remote atoll nation of Tokelau is changing due to competition between invasive ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes) and native terrestrial hermit crabs (Coenobita spp.) for carrion. A significant negative correlation was observed between A. gracilipes and hermit crab abundance. On islands with A. gracilipes, crabs were generally restricted to the periphery of invaded islands. Very few hermit crabs were found in central areas of these islands where A. gracilipes abundances were highest. Ant exclusion experiments demonstrated that changes in the abundance and distribution of hermit crabs on Tokelau are a result of competition. The ants did not kill the hermit crabs. Rather, when highly abundant, A. gracilipes attacked crabs by spraying acid and drove crabs away from carrion resources. Analysis of naturally occurring N and C isotopes suggests that the ants are effectively lowering the trophic level of crabs. According to δ15 N values, hermit crabs have a relatively high trophic level on islands where A. gracilipes have not invaded. In contrast, where these ants have invaded we observed a significant decrease in δ15 N for all crab species. This result concurs with our experiment in suggesting long-term exclusion from carrion resources, driving co-occurring crabs towards a more herbivorous diet. Changes in hermit crab abundance or distribution may have major ramifications for the stability of plant communities. Because A. gracilipes have invaded many tropical islands where the predominant scavengers are hermit crabs, we consider that their competitive effects are likely to be more prominent in structuring communities than predation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Abbott KL (2005) Supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on an oceanic island: forager activity patterns, density and biomass. Insectes Soc 52:266–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abbott KL, Greaves SNJ, Ritchie PA, Lester PJ (2007) Behaviourally and genetically distinct populations of an invasive ant provide insight into invasion history and impacts on a tropical ant community. Biol Invasions 9:453–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson MJ (2001) A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecol 26:32–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bos MM, Tylianakis JM, Steffan-Dewenter I, Tscharntke T (2008) The invasive yellow crazy ant and the decline of forest ant diversity in Indonesian cacao agroforests. Biol Invasions 10:1399–1409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JH, Davidson DW (1977) Competition between seed-eating rodents and ants in desert ecosystems. Science 196:880–882

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson DW (1998) Resource discovery versus resource domination in ants: a functional mechanism for breaking the trade off. Ecol Entomol 23:484–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis MA (2003) Biotic globalization: does competition from introduced species threaten biodiversity? Bioscience 53:481–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Niro MJ, Epstein S (1981) Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 45:1885–1894

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feare C (1999) Ants take over rats on Bird Island, Seychelles. Bird Conserv Int 9:95–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie RG, Reimer N (1993) The effect of alien predatory ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on Hawaii endemic spiders (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). Pac Sci 47:21–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Green PT, O’Dowd DJ, Lake PS (1999) Alien ant invasion and ecosystem collapse on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Aliens 9:2–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Grover CD, Kay AD, Monson JA, Marsh TC, Holway DA (2007) Linking nutrition and behavioural dominance: carbohydrate scarcity limits aggression and activity in Argentine ants. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 274:2951–2957

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haines LH, Haines JB (1978a) Pest status of the crazy ant, Anoplolepis longipes (Jerdon) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in the Seychelles. Bull Entomol Res 68:627–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haines LH, Haines JB (1978b) Colony structure, seasonality and food requirements of the crazy ant, Anoplolepis longipes (Jerd.) in the Seychelles. Ecol Entomol 3:109–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill M, Holm K, Vel T, Shah NJ, Matyot P (2003) Impact of the introduced yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes on Bird Island, Seychelles. Biodivers Conserve 12:1969–1984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinckly AD (1969) Ecology of terrestrial arthropods on the Tokelau Atolls. Atoll Res Bull 124:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA, Lach L, Suarez AV, Tsutsui ND, Case TJ (2002) The causes and consequences of ant invasions. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 33:181–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennish R (1996) Diet composition influences the fitness of the herbivorous crab Grapsus albolineatus. Oecologia 105:22–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline TC, Goering JJ, Mathisen OA, Pope PH (1990) Recycling of elements transported upstream by runs of Pacific Salmon: δ15 N and δ13C evidence in Sashin Creek, Southeastern Alaska. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 47:136–144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kurle CM, Croll DA, Tershy BR (2008) Introduced rats indirectly change marine rocky intertidal communities from algae- to invertebrate-dominated. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:3800–3804

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lester PJ, Tavite A (2004) Long-legged ants, Anoplolepis gracilipes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), have invaded Tokelau, changing composition and dynamics of ant and invertebrate communities. Pac Sci 58:391–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lester PJ, Abbott KL, Sarty M, Burns KC (2009) Competitive assembly of South Pacific invasive ant communities. BMC Ecol 9:3

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindquist ES, Carroll CR (2004) Differential seed and seedling predation by crabs: impacts on tropical coastal forest composition. Oecologia 141:661–671

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louda SM, Zedler PH (1985) Predation in insular plant dynamics: an experimental assessment of postdispersal fruit and seed survival, Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands. Am J Bot 72:438–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manly BFJ (1997) Randomization, bootstrap and Monte Carlo methods in biology, 2nd edn. Chapman & Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • McArdle BH, Anderson MJ (2001) Fitting multivariate models to community data: a comment on distance-based redundancy analysis. Ecology 82:290–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mooney HA, Cleland EE (2001) The evolutionary impact of invasive species. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:5446–5451

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison LW (2002) Interspecific competition and coexistence between ants and land hermit crabs on small Bahamian islands. Acta Oecol 23:223–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Dowd DJ, Green PT, Lake PS (2003) Invasional ‘meltdown’ on an oceanic island. Ecol Lett 6:812–817

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parham BEV (1971) The vegetation of the Tokelau Islands with special reference to the plants of Nukunonu Atoll. NZ J Bot 9:576–609

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao NS, Veeresh GK (1991) Nesting and foraging of crazy ant Anoplolepis longipes (Jerdon) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Environ Ecol 9:670–677

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross ST (1991) Mechanisms structuring stream fish assemblies: are there lessons from introduced species? Environ Biol Fishes 30:359–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarty M, Abbott KL, Lester PJ (2006) Habitat complexity facilitates coexistence in a tropical ant community. Oecologia 149:465–473

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarty M, Abbot KL, Lester PJ (2007) Community level impacts of an ant invader and food mediated coexistence. Insectes Soc 54:166–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sax DF, Gaines SD (2008) Species invasions and extinction: the future of native biodiversity on islands. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:11490–11497

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simberloff D, Von Holle B (1999) Positive interactions of nonindigenous species: invasional meltdown? Biol Invasions 1:21–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thacker RW (1996) Food choices of land hermit crabs (Coenobita compressus H. Milne Edwards) depend on past experience. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 199:179–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend CR (2003) Individual, population, community, and ecosystem consequences of a fish invader in New Zealand streams. Conserve Biol 17:38–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward D, Beggs J (2007) Coexistence, habitat patterns and the assembly of ant communities in the Yasawa islands, Fiji. Acta Oecol 32:215–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watari Y, Takatsuki S, Miyashita T (2008) Effects of exotic mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) on the native fauna of Amami-Oshima Island, southern Japan, estimated by distribution patterns along the historical gradient of mongoose invasion. Biol Invasions 10:7–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetterer JK (2005) Worldwide distribution and potential spread of the long-legged ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 45:77–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiles GJ, Bart J, Beck RE, Aguon CF (2003) Impacts of the brown tree snake: patterns of decline and species persistence in Guam’s avifauna. Conserv Biol 17:1350–1360

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Pulenuku and Taupulega of Nukunonu Atoll, Tokelau, for permission to conduct this study and for support during fieldwork. Megan Sarty, Luka Luka and Kelemete Perez assisted with field work. Two anonymous referees and Nate Sanders provided comments that substantially improved this manuscript. This project was funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund, The Pacific Conservation and Development Trust and Victoria University of Wellington.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Science, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand

    Alice McNatty & Philip J. Lester

  2. Science Faculty, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Kirsti L. Abbott

Authors
  1. Alice McNatty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kirsti L. Abbott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Philip J. Lester
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip J. Lester.

Additional information

Communicated by Nathan Sanders.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 643 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McNatty, A., Abbott, K.L. & Lester, P.J. Invasive ants compete with and modify the trophic ecology of hermit crabs on tropical islands. Oecologia 160, 187–194 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1279-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1279-z

Keywords

  • Anoplolepis gracilipes
  • Exclusion
  • Carrion
  • Invasive ants
  • Trophic ecology